painkillers

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It's Quietly Become One of the Most Popular Painkillers

'It's crazy' how many ailments gabapentin is used for, cautions one doctor

(Newser) - For the record, the painkiller gabapentin is sanctioned for use in preventing epileptic seizures and treating nerve pain related to shingles. Off-label uses of the prescription drug are a much different story. "It's crazy how many indications it's used for," Dr. Michael Steinman of the University...

Court Overturns $465M Opioid Ruling Against Johnson & Johnson

It's the second blow to a case like this in the past month

(Newser) - The Oklahoma Supreme Court on Tuesday overturned a $465 million opioid ruling against drugmaker Johnson & Johnson, finding that a lower court wrongly interpreted the state's public nuisance law in the first case of its kind in the US to go to trial. The ruling was the second blow...

Jamie Lee Curtis: I 'Freebased' With Dad Tony Curtis

Actress, 20 years sober, opens up for Variety's 'recovery issue'

(Newser) - Jamie Lee Curtis has been open about her struggle with addiction and her recovery journey; she's been sober 20 years. She gets even more open in a new interview with Variety for its "recovery issue," revealing that dad Tony Curtis, whose addiction struggles were also well-known, "...

Opioids No Better Than Other Meds at Treating Pain
Tylenol, Advil Work
Just as Well as Opioids
NEW STUDY
Mar 9, 2018 10:04 AM CST

Tylenol, Advil Work Just as Well as Opioids

Study finds they're not much better than over-the-counter meds for pain relief

(Newser) - Even after overdose and addiction risks became known, opioid prescriptions continued on the belief that the drugs were more effective at relieving pain than other medications. New research suggests that may not be the case. In a study in JAMA , scientists say opioids appear to be no better at treating...

Cost of This Drug in 2013: $138. Cost Now: $2,979

Horizon Pharma's Vimovo just saw latest price hike, but maker says most will pay less than $10

(Newser) - A painkiller that cost $138 a bottle less than five years ago now hovers at close to $3,000—the latest price hike to put the pharmaceutical industry in the spotlight. CNNMoney reports Horizon Pharma's latest increase on Vimovo, which has seen nearly a dozen such rate rises since...

In One Year, Town of 400 Was Shipped 2.2M Opioids
In One Year, Town of 400
Was Shipped 2.2M Opioids
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Feb 4, 2018 4:30 PM CST

In One Year, Town of 400 Was Shipped 2.2M Opioids

W.Va. numbers are 'outrageous,' say congressional investigators

(Newser) - Williamson, W.Va., is home to 2,900 people. That's one reason congressional investigators are flabbergasted by documents showing two local pharmacies received 20.8 million prescription painkillers from out-of-state drug companies over a decade, reports the Charleston Gazette-Mail . Ohio-based wholesaler Miami-Luken says it supplied 6.4 million hydrocodone...

Stuck With Leftover Opioids? Walmart Has a Solution

Walmart to offer first-of-its-kind product to customers

(Newser) - Walmart is helping customers get rid of leftover opioids by giving them packets that turn the addictive painkillers into a useless gel. The retail giant announced Wednesday that it will provide the packets free with opioid prescriptions filled at its 4,700 US pharmacies. The small packets, made by DisposeRx...

Major Insurer Takes Big Step on OxyContin

Cigna will stop covering most prescriptions

(Newser) - A big change for a huge insurance company: Starting Jan. 1, Cigna will stop covering most OxyContin prescriptions in its group plans. OxyContin, an opioid painkiller, is an extended-release version of oxycodone; extended-release versions contain a higher dose of the active ingredients, which can make them ripe for abuse as...

This Is How Much People Will Pay to Ease Their Pain

One takeaway? Wealthy people are willing to pay more to relieve their pain

(Newser) - Chronic pain can be downright unbearable, and opioids to treat it can be hard to quit. In fact, with opioid addiction claiming more lives than ever, the US is experiencing what President Trump has just called a national emergency . Researchers found that in 2015, one in three Americans took opioid...

Common Meds Linked to Heart Problems
Common
Meds Linked to
Heart Problems
STUDY SAYS
Mar 15, 2017 7:55 PM CDT

Common Meds Linked to Heart Problems

Ibuprofen raises risk of cardiac arrest by 31%: Danish researchers

(Newser) - Taking ibuprofen to ease a headache may seem like no big deal, but Danish researchers caution against overdoing it. A study in the European Heart Journal suggests that ibuprofen, one of America's most popular painkillers, raises a person's risk of cardiac arrest by 31%. Other types of non-steroidal...

Risk of Opioid Addiction May Hinge on Your ER Doctor
ER Docs All Over the Map
on Doling Out Opioids
new study
Feb 17, 2017 10:45 AM CST

ER Docs All Over the Map on Doling Out Opioids

Patients of 'high-intensity' prescribers might pay the price, says study

(Newser) - Scientists trying to better understand the nation's rising opioid addictions have uncovered an interesting wrinkle: A patient's risk of getting hooked might depend on which ER doctor they happen to get. In a New England Journal of Medicine study, researchers found that patients whose ER doctors are more...

Maker of OxyContin Sued by Drug-Addled City

Complaint filed by Everett, Wash., says Purdue Pharma valued profits over people

(Newser) - What does a city do when its citizens are wracked with opioid addiction? Sue the maker of one of the most well-known brands is the route Everett is taking, the Los Angeles Times reports. The Washington city of 100,000 north of Seattle filed a complaint Thursday against Purdue Pharma,...

The VA Pumped Vets With Opioids. Now There's a Bigger Problem

How ex-service members got hooked on painkillers, and how the VA is letting them down: 'WSJ'

(Newser) - Veterans who return from service not only have to deal with everyday re-entry issues (finding jobs, reacclimating to life with family and friends), but also with the injuries and PTSD they may have brought home with them. To cope with the physical and mental pain, many of them are prescribed...

Ex-Addict: I Got Prescription Opioids Way Too Easily

Doctors knew history, kept pills coming

(Newser) - Seth Mnookin is recovering from a three-year addiction to heroin, which he kicked in 1997. So when he went to Massachusetts General Hospital to be treated for kidney stones that left him in severe pain, he made sure to tell every medical professional he encountered about his history with addiction....

Jamie Lee Curtis: I, Too, Was Addicted to Painkillers

She shares her story in response to Prince's death

(Newser) - It's time to do something about painkiller addiction, writes Jamie Lee Curtis in the Huffington Post , where she reveals that she was once addicted, like Prince reportedly was. "I too, waited anxiously for a prescription to be filled for the opiate I was secretly addicted to. I too,...

How Prince Could Have Kept Such a Secret

The 'New York Times' delves into his private addiction

(Newser) - Prince's final days are coming into sharper focus, and it now appears the singer had developed an addiction to pain pills so serious that he was set to meet with an addiction specialist when he died. The New York Times delves into the question of how Prince—who had...

Prince Had Date With Addiction Doctor: Report

Doctor's son reportedly called 911

(Newser) - Dr. Howard Kornfeld, a nationally recognized specialist in opioid addiction, received a call on April 20 about a man suffering from a "grave" addiction to painkillers. The California doctor sent his son on a red-eye flight to see the patient in Minnesota and explain how his father's "...

CDC to Doctors: Cool It With the Painkiller Prescriptions

New recommendations aim to curb opioid abuse

(Newser) - Prescription painkillers should not be a first-choice for treating common ailments like back pain and arthritis, according to new federal guidelines designed to reshape how doctors prescribe drugs like OxyContin and Vicodin. Amid an epidemic of addiction and abuse tied to these powerful opioids drugs, the Centers for Disease Control...

11-Year-Olds Can Now Be Prescribed OxyContin

FDA approves drug for severe pain in kids 11 to 16

(Newser) - The FDA has approved the powerful painkiller OxyContin for a new use in children 11 to 16 who are suffering from severe, long-term pain. OxyContin is an extended-release opioid that has long been used to treat around-the-clock pain in adults. But most pain medications are not approved for use in...

Even a Little Non-Aspirin Painkiller Could Be Bad News

Risk of heart attack, stroke from NSAIDs higher than thought, even in small amounts

(Newser) - The FDA advised back in 2005 that non-aspirin nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, or NSAIDs , could up the risk of heart attack and stroke. But the agency is now boosting that warning, noting that drugs like ibuprofen (often sold under the Motrin IB brand), naproxen (Aleve), and celecoxib (Celebrex) may pose a...

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